


Marian's Twelve

by angstbot



Series: Marian's Eleven [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Swen, swan queen - Fandom
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-11-29 21:09:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11449107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstbot/pseuds/angstbot
Summary: When their past catches up with them, the crew needs to conduct another big heist, and fast. The Marian's Eleven sequel.





	1. Chapter 1

“Don’t you dare.”

Emma pulled back her hand from reaching for the chopped zucchini on the counter, but teased, “Or what, you’ll punish me?”

Without missing a beat, Regina purred, “I just might.”

Emma chuckled delightedly, forgetting her hunger and prowling around to the other side of the counter to wrap her arms around Regina and press against her back. “Oh yeah?”

Regina carefully set the knife down and tilted her head back a bit to give access to her neck. “Yes. If you don’t behave yourself I will be forced to do very terrible things to you, dear.”

“Like what?” Emma murmured, kissing along her neck

“I might have to ride your face for hours,” she said, trying to sound threatening while reaching over her shoulder to thread her fingers through Emma’s hair.

“Do your worst,” Emma shot back.

“No, not a threat?” Regina said, a smile in her voice. “A tough one, are you? Maybe I’ll tie you down, then straddle your face and touch _myself_ for hours and not let you have even a tiny taste.”

Emma nipped at her neck now. “That would be pretty bad, but I think I’ll risk it.”

“In that case, you’ve left me no choice.”

“Bring it.”

“Well Ms. Swan, don’t say I didn’t warn you. If you don’t behave,” and she paused dramatically, “I will have to tie you down and fuck myself in the ass and not let you help even a little bit.”

“Oh, you are _evil_ ,” Emma groaned.

“I _am_ , what is it you call it, a criminal mastermind?”

“Master criminal,” Emma corrected absently, muffled by her mouth on Regina’s skin.

“Hush.”

They both shook with suppressed laughter for a moment.

Then Emma pulled it together. “Maybe we can cut some sort of deal?” She began to suck on Regina’s neck as she slid a hand up to cup a breast and pressed her hips more firmly against Regina’s delicious ass.

“I’m listening,” Regina said, pretending to be noncommittal though she was a bit breathy.

“Well I propose we start with me taking body shots off your fucking perfect collarbones,” she said, nipping where they were showing a bit because of Regina’s sweater’s wide collar.

“I _do_ like that,” Regina acknowledged.

“And then I’d spend so, so long sucking your nipples.” Emma sucked in a desirous breath through her teeth. “Fuck, I can almost feel them in my mouth.”

Regina’s fingertips dug into her thigh. “That would be- nice.”

“And then I would eat your pussy until you beg me to stop because you just can’t come anymore,” Emma growled hotly, directly into her ear.

Then Regina was turning in her embrace and kissing her passionately.

“Ew, gross, moms,” they heard, and as Emma broke the kiss she saw Henry ducking back out of the kitchen as soon as he’d entered.

“Sorry, kid!” she called after him, releasing Regina.

“Yes, we’re sorry!” Regina added. “You, make yourself useful,” she said to Emma, giving her a chaste kiss as she tipped her head at the zucchini and knife. And a little playful spank when she reached for the cut ones again.

“I’m hungry,” Emma half-whined.

“It’s half an hour. You’ll live.” Then she called out, “And Henry, you come help, too.”

Henry returned, making a big show of covering his eyes as he walked in. Soon they settled into making dinner together. It was strange to think that a year ago Emma had never met either of them, until they had all been part of an elite team of thieves robbing a cheating real estate developer. But then she and Regina had hooked up and Henry had revealed that Emma was the woman who’d given him up for adoption and now somehow they were all . . . _domestic._ It wasn’t anything Emma had ever thought she’d get to have, or had ever wanted, really, but now that she had it? It was kind of perfect.

“How was school, Henry?” Regina prompted.

“Boring,” he snapped. “As usual.”

“Didn’t you have your computer class today?” Emma asked. Academic achievement had never been her strong suit, but she did try to keep up with what her kid was doing.

Henry made a disgusted sound. “That one is the worst of all. I know _so_ much more than my teacher, but I have to pretend to be just another dumb kid who can’t program. I can’t even do something else because they have the whole system locked down and _someone_ won’t let me bypass it.” He shot Regina a look.

She didn’t take the bait. “I’m sure it’s frustrating, dear, but at least the AP test should be easy, right?”

“And that’s college credit,” Emma put in.

“Ma, I’m getting inquiries from professors asking if I’m available to be their postdoc because they’ve seen my code. I totally don’t need college. And besides, college is for like getting a regular person job, which we all know I’m not going to do.”

“Henry, you should have options for your future,” Regina began the well-worn argument.

“Come on, Mom, we’re all big-time criminals.”

“Which is not a particularly stable line of work. There’s a reason your mother and I both have day jobs.”

He scoffed. “But why do we have to pretend to be normal people at all? We’re super rich. We could do anything.”

Regina sighed. “Henry, we’ve been over this. How did they get Al Capone?”

“Tax evasion,” he answered, rolling his eyes. “Alright, alright. I’ll do college.”

The doorbell rang.

“I got it,” Emma said, snatching a handful of zucchini as she left.

“I saw that!”

“What are you gonna do about it, Mills?” she sassed over her shoulder.

She was still chuckling and chewing when she opened the door.

Then she froze.

Robin Hood, the guy they’d robbed last year, was standing on her doorstep, flanked by two giant enforcers, both of whom had guns pointed straight at her.

“Good evening, Miss Swan,” he greeted, extremely casually for the threat he was posing. “Mind if we come in?”


	2. Chapter 2

“Okay, but how did he find _all_ of us?” Ursula shook her head. “Like, if it was one or two, maybe people were careless. But he tracked down every single one of _eleven_?” They had all gathered once again at Marian’s house, just as they had the first time, to figure out what to do.

“Well three of them live in the same house,” Mal pointed out, tipping her head at the Swan-Mills family, sitting together on a couch.

“And you’re sleeping with Marian,” Ursula shot back. “But seven is still unlikely, especially given that we don’t all live in the same country, even.” It had taken two days to get them all together, as it was. “So how did he do it?”

“As much as I’d like to figure it out,” Marian broke in, “and we should, so there’s not a repeat, we have more pressing problems. How much are we short?”

Belle looked up from her calculations. “Given his demand for 10% interest, which is entirely not in line with recent market realities, by the way-”

“Belle,” Marian said sharply. They’d heard this rant twice already in the time since they’d gathered here this morning.

“Right, sorry.” She shook it off. “Given how much of people’s shares they spent, plus interest, we need about twenty million dollars.”

Emma sucked air through her teeth. “Twenty mill in the two weeks he gave us. That’s not possible.” She got up and started pacing.

“It’s going to have to be possible,” Mulan pointed out. “Because otherwise he’s going to have us all killed.” Her tone was matter-of-fact, but the way she was fidgeting with her switchblade gave her anxiety away.

“Can’t we just, like, kill _him_ first?” Henry asked.

“Henry!” his mothers scolded in chorus.

“What? Like, there’s eleven of us and there’s one of him and we know how to do all kinds of things. I’ll shut down the security cameras and Mom can poison him and Ursula can put the body at the bottom of the ocean, or whatever, and we’re all ok.” He held out his hands. “Easy-peasy.”

“Henry, we may be thieves, but we’re not murderers,” Regina said.

“And I don’t know about everybody else, but I know I make it a policy only to steal from bad people. People who cheat the poor and mistreat their employees and discriminate in housing, that kind of thing,” Marian pointed out. “And I use at least some of the money to help those people.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re a real Robin Ho-” Henry began. Then he went cross-eyed and his mouth snapped shut.

“Right,” Emma said, clearing her throat. “The fact is, we need a job, and fast. Start thinking.”

**

“There’s an arms dealer in Cairo with a huge antique book collection,” Belle put in. They’d been tossing around ideas for a while now, and people were starting to get creative. “Really bad fellow. Really rare books. Coptic, Greek, Latin, you name it.”

“We know you love books, but most people don’t. It’s not gonna be worth enough. Five mill, tops,” Ruby said, reaching up to pat her on the arm, not unkindly. She was sitting on the floor in a contorted position that made Emma hurt just looking at her but that she insisted helped her think.

Belle huffed, but couldn’t dispute it.

“I happen know where the former Iraqi generals put some of the pallets of money the Americans lost,” Zelena suggested. She was draped sideways across an armchair and had started tossing a plastic green apple from the bowl on the table high into the air and catching it. Even if she was her kinda half-sister-in-law—out-law, whatever—Emma was about to strangle her. Family gatherings with her were the worst part about dating Regina.

“I don’t like Yanks any more than you do, Zel,” Tink replied, “but I’m not sure stealing from them wholesale really counts as fair game.” Not to be outdone by Ruby, she was in an expert-level yoga pose too.

“Eh, we kind of deserve it,” Henry said. “Neocolonialism and all.”

Regina snorted in amusement.

“Smart kid,” Marian said, nodding approvingly.

Emma felt a proud smile creep across her face, then shook it off and went back to pacing. It didn’t do her a damn bit of good to have a freakishly brilliant kid and girlfriend if they were all dead.

They all fell silent for several more moments, thinking.

“How about the Ghent Altarpiece? That guy who’s trying to patent traditional medicine has it,” Mal suggested. She was coping with her anxiety by folding paper airplanes in every design Emma had ever seen and some she hadn’t.

Mulan shook her head. “He’s a good target, but we’d have to unload it on the black market. The reward for finding it isn’t enough.”

“What about a casino?” Ruby asked. “They cheat everybody by default, right? There’s a Pacquiao fight coming up and we could grab the Brinks truck on the way to the bank after.”

“Unfortunately, love, the haul on those is always much lower than you’d think,” Zelena said. “Five, ten million at the most.” She paused. “Unless you want to knock over two casinos. I have some new blasting techniques I’ve been itching to try. We could run an experiment.”

Ruby snorted a little chuckle.

“Diamonds?” Ursula put in. “Everybody involved is hopelessly dirty. There’s no guilt in ripping those guys off.”

“True, but where?” Regina asked. “Antwerp had a massive loss in 2003 and Graff in 2009. In fact, now that I think about it, probably nobody should try diamonds again for at least five more years. Security is too tight and nobody is making mistakes.”

Ursula sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. Man, where’s a good, uncomplicated Russian oligarch when you need one?”

Emma clapped her hands. “That’s it! Panama Papers.”

“What?” Marian asked.

“Those banks that launder money for the Russian oligarchs. You know, the ones exposed in the Panama Papers? We hit the safe deposit boxes. They won’t even _know_ how much we took, and every bit of that money is dirty.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Hey,” Emma said when their hotel room door finally closed behind them.

Regina’s answering “Hey” sounded a little surprised as she looked up from taking off her boots.

“How are you doing?”

“Fine,” she said, way too fast.

“Come on,” Emma said quietly, making her way across the room to kneel in front of Regina where she was sitting on the edge of the bed. “I know we’ve both been keeping it together for Henry, but it’s just me.” This was the first time they’d been alone together and not in frantic planning mode since Robin had showed up on their doorstep.

Regina let out a deep sigh and let her head fall into her hands. “What are we going to do?”

“We’re gonna do a job.”

Regina looked up and her mouth tightened in disapproval. “You know what I mean.”

“I do,” Emma said, resting her hands on Regina’s knees. “But we’re gonna do a job and we’re gonna get the money and it’s all gonna be fine.”

“You’re full of shit, Emma Swan.”

“Usually,” she teased. “But this time I’m right. We have the best damn team of thieves in the world. It’s going to work, and we’ll pay off Robin, and it’ll all be fine.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Regina reached out to cup her face in trembling hands. “All I could think about when those men were in the house was that I was going to lose you,” she whispered. “You and Henry and I was so afraid.”

“You’re not,” Emma said, pulling her close and kissing her eyebrows and eyelids and nose. “And I’m not gonna lose you either.”

Their lips found each other, and they kissed slowly, breathing each other in. Emma wanted to be closer and closer, and soon found herself straddling Regina’s lap on the bed, their foreheads pressed together.

When she pulled back a bit to look at her, the corner of Regina’s mouth made the smallest possible motion toward a smile, and it was suddenly the hottest thing she’d ever seen. She swiped her tongue against it, and across Regina’s lips.

The moment had shifted, and Regina’s tongue darted out to meet hers. One of Regina’s hands slid into her hair and the other down her chest to cup a breast. Emma wished she could get her hands on that perfect ass, but Regina was, you know, sitting on it. But she could fix that. In a few short moments, she had coaxed Regina to lie back, pressed on top of her, and then quickly rolled them over.

Regina chuckled. “Always so eager to get underneath me.”

“Underneath you, on top of you, next to you, inside you,” Emma murmured, kissing Regina’s neck as she gripped her ass and raised her thigh to press against her, “it’s all good. But I’ll admit underneath does have a special place in my heart.”

“Oh it does,” she said, rocking her own thigh against Emma.

“It reminds me of our first time,” she explained between kisses.

“Is that your way of telling me you want me to sit on your face, dear?” she teased.

“I’m trying to be sweet, here. We’re having sex in a hotel room again like we did the first time and I’m nostalgic!” She was nipping at Regina’s neck now, and Regina was not really succeeding at suppressing her laughter.

 Then Regina was sitting up and starting to unbutton her shirt. “As it happens, I would love to sit on your face,” she said, but couldn’t resist adding, “for nostalgia.”

Emma mock-growled at her, but it didn’t stop her from helping strip them both.

Once they were bare, Regina gave her a gentle shove onto her back again. “Where were we?”

“You were going to sit on my face, but, uh, now that I’ve had a look at your awesome boobs-” she trailed off, raising her eyebrows.

“You want to suck my tits,” Regina said.

Emma groaned. “I love it when you talk dirty.”

“I know.”

She straddled Emma and leaned over, making a little pleased hum when she immediately wrapped her lips around a nipple. Emma hummed right back, cupping both breasts in her hands and stroking her thumb across the nipple not in her mouth. She felt so good on tongue and palate and fingertip and Emma needed to give her more, switching sides and sucking harder, rolling the other between her fingers now.

Feeling Regina slick against her belly, her hands were on her hips in the next moment, coaxing her up past her shoulders until her pussy was over her face. She knew she had a big goofy grin looking at her all wet and open and delicious, but she didn’t care.

“Emma,” Regina said forebodingly.

“I know. Less looking. More licking.” She pulled her down to meet her mouth and groaned out her enjoyment at how wet her face got instantly, rubbing side to side a little. Regina’s hand in her hair was a warning and she chuckled and obediently began stroking. She was already very ready so Emma didn’t start very slowly—her tongue was soft but it was directly on her clit.

“There’s my girl,” Regina sighed.

After a bit, she added a little flick at the top of the stroke, and Regina’s whole body twitched.

“Okay?” she checked.

“Very okay,” Regina answered. “More.”

Emma started fluttering now, loving the feeling of the firm little clit against her tongue.

“Yes,” Regina breathed, looking down and meeting her eyes, and Emma was struck by how beautiful she was, struck by how much she loved her, struck by the need to feel her, warm and soft and alive—because despite her bluffing she’d had the same fear when they’d been threatened. Swallowing hard, she gripped Regina’s hip with one hand and brought her fingers up to dip the slightest bit inside.

“Yes,” Regina said again, throwing her head back now. Emma pushed her fingers inside and sighed at the liquid velvet around her fingers.

It didn’t take much longer until they were at a fever pitch, Emma’s fingers fucking fast and deep and Regina’s hips working on her mouth as she sucked at her clit. It was intense—almost too intense. This was love needing to shove the fear of loss away. This was fear needing to feel the other warm and solid and slick and the fast thudding of a heart.

Then Regina was coming, tensing and shuddering, and Emma stroked her through it.

When she pulled away from Emma’s face, Regina looked down and caressed her cheek with a smile before half-moving, half-melting onto the bed face-down.

Emma watched her with an indulgent smile and then rolled toward her, pressing against her as her breathing slowed.

“Closer,” Regina insisted, a bit muffled by her face against the sheets. Emma threw an arm and a leg over her. “Closer,” she said again, reaching up awkwardly to nudge her.

Emma chuckled and kissed her shoulder, then slid on top, hips tucking against Regina’s ass and knees and elbows coming to rest on either side of her.

“There we go,” Regina said. Her slight wiggle brought her ass against Emma’s pussy and made them both gasp.

“God, you’re wet,” Regina said.

“Yeah,” Emma breathe-whined as her hips moved involuntarily to press against Regina again.

“We haven’t done this in a while,” Regina pointed out, rolling upward to meet her.

“Hm?”

“You fucking yourself on my ass. We haven’t done it in a while.”

“Fuck,” Emma groaned, her hips starting to move steadily.

“Which is a shame, really, because I know how much you love my ass.”

“God, do I love it,” she affirmed, a little breathy now. She started feathering kisses over Regina’s shoulders and neck as her hips worked and her pleasure built. Her wetness slicked Regina’s backside up deliciously, and she was so open that her clit made contact every time she moved.

Regina moved her hair more off her neck and kept moving to meet her. “And I love feeling you breathing hard on top of me, muscles flexing, reaching for it, needing to come.”

All Emma could do was moan and keep riding her. This was so hot and after fucking Regina earlier she was already half way there.

“And you will, won’t you? You’ll be a good girl and come for me? Come all over my ass?”

Emma was gripping the sheets hard now and biting Regina’s shoulder, her body tensing, reaching for it, feeling it getting closer.

Then she was coming, jerking hard.

Now it was her turn to flop onto the bed, and she heard Regina murmuring, “I hope you didn’t mark me.”

“No, you don’t,” she sassed, because Regina liked the reminders—when they wouldn’t show.

“No, I don’t.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Are you sure there’s not another way to do this?” Mulan asked, her voice high with anxiety. “I don’t like being underwater.”

Ruby slid a comforting arm around her shoulders. “We had to go in from the river or else somebody would notice the tunnel.”

“All aboard, kids,” Zelena said, coming to the hatch of the small submarine. “Ursula says the tide’s making.”

“It’ll be okay,” Emma said, reaching over to pat Mulan’s arm, a little awkwardly. “We don’t have to be in here very long. We’ll just jam on over there and before you know it we’ll be in the nice, dry tunnel.”

“Yeah, Hua, Ursula said she got it all sealed up for us, remember?” Tink prodded.

Mulan blinked. “Why are you calling me by my last name?”

“You need a nickname! And I can’t very well call you Mumu,” Tink said, stepping off the dock into the hatch.

“Not if you want to live,” Mulan shot back as she followed her.

Emma smiled as she realized that Mulan had efficiently been distracted.

**

Emma turned to Tink and Ruby and raised a questioning eyebrow. There were noise sensors down here and talking wouldn’t be an option until the team got them offline. They both nodded, and she pushed the button on her headset to send an alert back to headquarters.

“Gotcha, Emma,” Marian said into her earpiece. After a moment, she added, “Belle and Henry are ready. You’re a go in five- four-” Emma held up her hand and counted down on her fingers for the others.

She eased the floor grating up and held it so it wouldn’t fall while Ruby and Tink climbed out around her. Then they were off toward opposite ends of the hallway, because of course deactivation had to be simultaneous at two interfaces in a bank for people this rich. Gradually the two women crossed the floor to their targets, moving slowly and treading gently because this place used Doppler radar and pressure sensors too. It was impressive that they could move so gracefully when they also had to be wrapped from head to toe in material that should fool the infrared sensors, but Emma had learned not to underestimate them.

Finally, they reached the ends of the corridor and attached the tiny computers that would let Henry and Belle hack in remotely.

They all held their breath for a long moment until Marian’s voice came through Emma’s headset again. “All clear.”

Emma rolled out her shoulders to get rid of tension she hadn’t realized she was holding. She needed to be loose for this. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Mulan do the same.

“You go left, I’ll go right?” she asked. Mulan nodded.

Emma went to work, pulling out her lockpicks and starting on the first safe deposit box. The combination of high tech and low tech security on these vaults would have been hard for most thieves to crack, but their team had depth in their skill set.

She tried to work efficiently, because there were a lot of boxes down here to clear out, but feeling around and listening for the tumblers to slot into place really did just take time. Soon she heard the little click that told her she’d gotten it.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the box, only to find it empty except for a little folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, she read, _This dirty money stolen by The Sorcerer and the Dark One._

“What the-?” she turned to Mulan, who was holding an identical paper.

“Let’s try the next one?” Mulan suggested uncertainly.

Emma blinked. “Yeah, I guess.”

But that safety deposit box had a note in it, too, and the next one, and the next one. In a few minutes, they determined that every single box had already been emptied.

“What the fuck?” Emma said.

“What are we gonna do?” Ruby asked.

“I don’t know,” Zelena said, looking up from her watch, “but our ride out of here is in a matter of minutes so we don’t have time to dither. Now clear out of there so I can work.”

Reluctantly, they all did as they were told. Once everyone but Zelena had moved into the stairwell out of the safe deposit area, they grabbed hard hats, respirator masks, and safety vests from a duffel bag and put them on, transforming into a work crew.

“Get going,” Zelena said a moment later, coming toward them, already wearing her uniform. “We have about thirty seconds.”

They were exiting the safe deposit area just as the fire alarm went off, and Emma breathed just a little easier knowing that the sprinklers now going off to suppress the fire Zelena had set would erase any trace they’d happened to leave despite their caution. They joined the bank’s customers being herded out by the employees.  

Out front, there was already more than a dozen people dressed in the same vest, mask, and hat. Regina and Mal had apparently just pulled up and were getting out of a big van.

“Hey everybody, it turns out we have all the help we need,” Regina was saying. “But here’s a 20 for your time coming down here. Thanks for answering our Craigslist ad and bringing your own uniform. We really appreciate it.”

In the confusion of people pushing forward to get the money, the other five went to the far side of the van and got in. Mal and Regina joined them a few minutes later and soon they were on the road.

“How’d it go?” Emma asked.

“Breakfast was good, although the service was terrible,” Mal said. “The company made up for it, however,” she said, glancing toward Regina.

Emma chuckled. She had gotten over her jealousy of Mal and Regina’s previous relationship, but Mal sometimes still liked to tease her that they’d start dating again, which, if Emma got to join-

Regina snorted amusement, and then answered what Emma had actually been asking. “Yes, the chemical on the bills will make them forget the last hour, give or take.” She snapped off the latex gloves she’d been wearing, carefully turning them inside out.

“At least something about this damn job went right,” Mulan said, hanging her head.

“What are you talking about?” Regina demanded.

“We were scooped,” Tink explained. “The boxes were empty.”

“All of them?” Mal asked.

“Every last one,” Emma confirmed.

“Shit,” Regina growled.


	5. Chapter 5

“This is such bullshit,” Ursula was saying as they came in the door of the warehouse where they’d set up headquarters. They’d picked her up at the docks on the way back. “Who are these ‘Sorcerer and Dark One’ people, anyway?”

“Oh they’ve pulled some amazing jobs,” Ruby gushed. Her fandom of other thieves was surprisingly useful sometimes. “And- oh. Ohhh.”

“What?” Tink demanded.

“They like to steal from bad people, like Marian does,” Ruby explained.

“I hear my name,” Marian called out. “What’s going on?”

“Some jokers with a ridiculous name scooped us,” Zelena sneered. “Emptied the safe deposit boxes before we could.”

“A ridiculous name like ‘The Sorcerer and the Dark One’?” Henry asked.

“Yes,” Emma said slowly. “Why?”

“They sent us an encrypted message a few minutes ago,” he explained. “Belle’s still working on it.”

“I’ve got it,” Belle said. “They want to meet. Tomorrow, and-” she punched a few more keys- “the location isn’t far from here. They have a job they think will tempt us.”

“It’s gotta be a trap,” Mulan said.

“Yeah maybe,” Emma agreed, “But we need a job and they just took the only one we had.”

“Possibly on purpose,” Regina added.

Emma sighed. “Possibly on purpose.”

“Well, it’s not like we have much of a choice,” Marian pointed out. “Henry, see what you can find out about this place they want to meet.”

**

“The Sorcerer and The Dark One, I presume?” Emma tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, but didn’t succeed. The names were so silly.

“You presume greatly,” the woman sneered from her chair in the center of a long table.

“Nim, we’re here to make a proposal,” the man sitting next to her said, resting his hand on her arm in warning. His accent was as gorgeous as he was, and Emma had to remind herself that he was dangerous. He turned back to them. “Please, have a seat and let’s talk. I’m known as The Sorcerer, and she The Dark One.”

Marian and Regina nodded and sat across from them. Emma and Mulan remained standing behind the other two.

Emma’s entire body was on alert for any sign of trouble. She had memorized every exit from this building from the blueprints Henry had found. He and Belle were also listening in, ready to search or hack or crack anything that came up in the conversation—anything that might give them an edge with these people who seemed to know everything about them. She and Mulan had come as the best physical fighters. Regina was packing some nasty chemicals. Mal was at the airstrip with the helicopter warmed up and the rest of the team ready for a rescue. They’d taken every precaution, but she knew that they were at the mercy of these two regardless.

“And what do we owe the pleasure of this meeting?” Marian asked with deliberate casualness.

“We have a challenge for you,” The Sorcerer said.

“A challenge?” Marian asked.

“Yes,” The Dark One answered. “We have heard whispers that you are the greatest do-gooder thieves in the world, and obviously that cannot stand because _we_ are the greatest. Though I do have to say that those Craigslist decoys you used yesterday were absolutely inspired,” she added, conspiratorially. Then she shook herself. “Anyway, we’ll compete head to head and prove our superiority.”

“Wait, you pre-stole the money that was going to keep us all alive just to prove you’re better thieves?” Emma blurted.

“Well, no,” The Dark One clarified. “We told Robin how to find you-” and they all gasped because that was the cardinal sin among thieves- “in order to force you to do a job so that we could steal the money out from under you and get your attention, to issue the challenge.”

“You endangered all of our lives- You endangered _my son’s_ life- for some ego trip?” Regina’s voice was colder and harder than Emma had ever heard it, and it cut through her own rage. “They will _never_ find your bodies.”

Emma put a restraining hand on her shoulder. “Killing them doesn’t solve our Robin problem.”

“Maybe not, but it solves my rage problem,” Regina muttered, but she left it there.

“We would never let anything happen to you as a result of our challenge,” The Sorcerer said, his tone conciliatory. “If it came to it, we would pay off Robin. It was merely to get your attention, as we said.”

“I think I speak for all of us when I say I still have half a mind to kill you,” Marian said, “but now that you have our attention, what’s your challenge?”

“Are you familiar with a man named Killian Jones?” The Dark One asked.

Emma’s blood ran cold.

Through the pounding in her head, she barely heard Regina ask, “The one who controls the world supply of rohypnol?”

“The very same,” The Sorcerer confirmed.

“He’s a nasty character,” Marian said.

“He is indeed. Your task and ours is to put him out of business. And not by killing him,” The Dark One clarified, tipping her head at Regina. “Extra points will be awarded for style.”

**

During a quiet moment in the planning, Regina sidled up to her. “You’ve been really quiet all day. What’s going on?” she asked in a low voice.

“Nothing. It’s fine,” Emma insisted, even though she knew Regina would see right through her.

“You can lie to the others, you can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me,” Regina said, sliding her arms around her. “Something about this job has you anxious. Weren’t you just telling me we’re a very capable team of thieves and we’ll be fine?”

Emma sighed. There was really no way around telling Regina the truth. “It’s not that.”

“What is it, then?”

“I know this guy,” she murmured, almost inaudibly.

“You do?”

“I, uh, met him at a party a few years ago. Really fancy shindig with billionaires. The Tiffany diamonds had come out and I was there to try to make a snag,” she explained.

“And?”

“And-” her stomach turned just thinking about it. She swallowed hard. “If it hadn’t been for Marian also wanting to steal those jewels-” She stopped.

Regina hugged her tighter. After a long silence, she prodded gently, “Emma?”

“I, uh, sampled his product, let’s just say,” she said in a rush.

“Oh god.”

“It was okay, in the end. It didn’t happen.” Emma half-shrugged. “But hearing his name brought back some memories.”

Regina held her tight. “Will you be able to do the job?”

“Oh no, I am _very_ much looking forward to taking that scumbag for every penny.”


	6. Chapter 6

“We could destroy the factory. Boom!” Zelena said, her eyes manic. “No more roofies, with a fiery flourish that would have plenty of style.”

Marian shook her head. “No, there’s too much risk of hurting a third party with an explosion as big as that would have to be.”

“What about shutting him down financially?” Ruby asked. “It’s not as flashy, but it would _work.”_

“He does have a lot of debt,” Henry muttered, staring at his laptop.

“Are you in his files already?!” Emma asked. She wasn’t sure if this was a thing she should disapprove as his mother or appreciate as his collaborator.

“Hacker,” he said with a shrug.

“The point is that given his finances it wouldn’t take much,” Mal put in.

“Yeah, and actually it looks like he has a loan coming due,” Belle said, leaning over Henry’s shoulder to look. “It’s leveraged on making a shipment soon. If he can’t meet that deadline, I think he’s toast.”

“It’s such a shame the roofies industry is struggling,” Regina said dryly and they all chuckled.

“So then how do we prevent him from making the shipment?” Ursula asked, bringing them back to the point.

“Steal his chemicals,” Regina said with a shrug. “No ingredients, no product.”

“What would stop him from making a claim on his insurance and being back up and running in no time?” Marian asked.

“We could tamper with his insurance first,” Emma suggested, shooting a meaningful look at Mulan.

“No,” Mulan said, waving her hands for emphasis. “Absolutely not. “

“We need her, Hua,” Tink said gently.

**

Emma and Mulan could hear the cursing from down the hallway before they even entered the room.

When they reached the doorway, Marian was pacing the floor and gesturing wildly. “How is it possible that the floorplan to his warehouse isn’t on file anywhere it should be? This is basic. Did he build the factory on the down low?” she demanded.

“You mean we have to do this blind?” Mulan said. “I mean I _can_ , but I really don’t want to. It’s much more dangerous.”

“If you would’ve let me finish what I was saying,” Henry cut in, a little testy, “you would’ve heard the part where I’ve got it covered.” He showed them a map of the building’s interior on his screen.

“What? How?” Ruby asked.

He shrugged. “I hacked his Roomba. Those things are data goldmines and the security is _terrible_.”

Emma scoffed. “That jerk _would_ have a Roomba in his office.”

**

“Are you sure you’re ok with doing this?” Regina asked.

“It makes the most sense,” Emma said with a shrug, trying to be more casual than she really felt. “We know I’m his type. I’m great bait. And you’re going to cook up an antidote in case he tries to drug me, right?” She didn’t like it any more than Regina, but it _did_ make sense.

“Yes, I will. But we have plenty of beautiful blondes to choose from if that’s his type. _You_ don’t have to put yourself into that position. You can pretend all you want, but I know you’re not comfortable,” she insisted again.

Emma pulled Regina close and pressed their foreheads together, breathing her in. “Damn, I love you.”

“And I love _you_. I want to protect you.”

“And you will. You’re going to be right outside listening to my wire. But I want to do this myself. I _need_ to do this,” she emphasized. It felt like the right way to deal with what had happened before, as much as it also turned her stomach.

“Alright, but I reserve the right to kill him,” Regina grumbled.

Emma chuckled and kissed her.

**

“Okay but if we use Craigslist again, will we lose style points?” Ruby worried. She was in a full back bend and Emma could barely look at her without wincing.

“Maybe. But how else are we going to find that many people for something this particular? It’s not exactly a Linked In kind of gig.” Tink pointed out, putting her leg down from behind her head to switch to the other one.

“It’s also illegal to pay people for, in case we care,” Emma muttered.

“Ladies, ladies, we’re going to go in guns blazing and pyrotechnics,” Zelena reminded them. “That’s plenty of style.”

“And Emma’s going to be dressed stylish enough for all of us,” Mal teased. Emma made a mocking, exaggerated kissy face at her.

“Hey, I think I’m going to look pretty sharp, too,” Ursula pointed out.

“Hell yeah, you will,” Marian assured her. She grinned and rubbed her hands together in glee. “Oh, this is gonna be so much fun! It feels like I haven’t gotten to go on a run in forever.”

“You guys get to have all the fun. I want to go,” Henry said, almost petulant.

The “No!” was universal.

“But I’m almost 18. Like two more months,” he whined.

“Almost doesn’t count,” Regina said severely. “And even if you were, being a legal adult doesn’t mean any of us is going to let you put yourself at risk on a job.”

“Besides, we really do need you at headquarters with your computer, not waving around a machine gun, Hen,” Belle reminded him.

“Fine,” he huffed, crossing his arms.

**

“Target acquired,” came Ursula’s voice in her earpiece, which had been disguised to look like a jeweled ear cuff. “Go now to intercept.”

Emma hadn’t walked fast in heels in a while, and her outfit was definitely designed to look good rather than be practical, but she managed not to fall on her face and made it to the front door of their rented McMansion just as Jones walked in.

He reacted to her instantly, just as oily as Emma remembered as his eyes ran over her form-fitting red dress. “Well hello there, love. This party is looking promising already if the other guests are all so lovely as you.”

She made herself smile and bat her eyelashes. “And as handsome as you!” She took his arm. “How about we get to know each other better?”


	7. Chapter 7

The house was filled with couples in various states of undress engaged in a variety of sex acts. It turned out that throwing an “elite sex party” was surprisingly easy. You just had to post a Craigslist ad and make people submit a picture to prove their hotness because it was elite and account for the inevitable gender disparity before giving out the address. Then, they would just show up. Emma was glad she hadn’t been the one to wade through all the dick pics, though.

Jones, being their big fish, had received a very exclusive numbered and engraved invitation by courier. As they had anticipated, the appeal to his vanity and promise of available women had worked. Add a rented house and some bowls of condoms and lube, and there it was, the perfect place to catch a predator.

Emma made sure to get both of their drinks, because even with an antidote she wasn’t going to take that risk.

Then she had to listen to him go on for ten minutes about “I love women who know how to treat a man. Properly deferential and really taking good care of us. The way it used to be. Those Feminazis have really undermined the natural way of things, don’t you think?” without strangling him, though she could almost hear Regina seething on the other end of the line.

She let him chat her up and move her over to a couch almost immediately, because they were on a tight schedule and because delaying contact would be suspicious at a sex party. When he lunged forward to kiss her, she felt something hard in his pants.

“Oh my, you’re ready,” she faux-giggled.

He smiled condescendingly. “No, those are my car keys, love. The bulge you’re looking for would be much _bigger_.”

She swallowed back her nausea and made herself smile. “Well, let’s just get those sharp, poky keys out of the way then so I can get _closer_.” She slid them out of his pocket and set them on the coffee table, then rucked up her skirt enough so she could straddle his lap and block his view. Then she again forced herself not to gag and was grateful that he was too full of himself to notice she wasn’t kissing him back.

“We got it,” came the low voice in her ear.

“What’s that, love?” Jones asked.

“Oh, I, uh, said I gotta go, to the little girls’ room.” She giggled vapidly.  “I’ll be right back.”

She managed not to puke as she quickly slipped out of the house and into the car with Mal, who had pulled around to get her.

“You ok?” the other woman asked, offering her a container of mints.

She took them, needing to settle her stomach. “Yeah. Let’s roll.”

Mal nodded. Then she peeled out. Jones’s Lamborghini was ridiculously painted as “the Jolly Roger,” but damn, that car had power. And it was his very most prized possession in the entire world.

**

“Everybody down!” Emma heard through her earpiece, switched to the warehouse raid team’s channel. Then there was a long burst of machine gun fire.

“Stay down and nobody gets hurt!” That was Marian, her voice full of glee.

Looking down at the floor of the van that was their mobile command center, Emma had to tell herself to breathe, because this was the most dangerous part. If any of those employees decided to be brave, it was all over. Their reconnaissance had told them Jones didn’t pay very well or inspire loyalty, and she prayed it was right.

“We don’t want to hurt you, but we’re walking out of here with this shipment,” Mulan said. “As long as you do what we say, everything is gonna be just fine. Got it?” A pause. “Good, I’m glad we have an understanding. Get those pallets loaded up,” she commanded the others.

For long moments, all that could be heard was a forklift driving and backing and driving and backing. Emma wished the van was big enough to pace. Or that she had a task right now, like the others. But she was here holding down the fort, and she’d already changed out of her dress and into her black fatigues and boots, ready for whatever anyone might need. It had taken all of thirty seconds.

Then there was the sound of a siren.

“It’s the police!” Tink shouted.

The next thing Emma heard was a pounding on a metal door. “Police! Open up! We’ve had reports of gunfire.”

Emma’s heart was in her throat. She heard Ruby yell, “Out the back!”

“We can’t, it’s blocked!” Marian said.

There was a loud crash sound and then another shout, “Police! Drop your weapons!” Emma heard four separate clatters of metal. “And put your hands where we can see them.”

Emma’s blood was pounding in her ears, and it didn’t help that the next several minutes all she could hear was low, indistinct talking and what might have been the clicking of handcuffs.

Then the conversation came into range again. “They just came in here, guns blazing! Said they wanted to take our shipment.”

“Here comes the detective, sir. I’m sure she’ll want to hear all about it.”

“Sir, you got extremely lucky here tonight,” Emma heard her say.

“Lucky!” the man scoffed. “We just almost got robbed! I mean, maybe lucky that you got here so fast. Who even called-”

“No, sir,” she cut him off. “What I mean is you were lucky because these criminals were using blanks. You were in absolutely no danger.” A sniff. “Now, I heard something about stealing a shipment?”

“Yeah, we just got some new ingredients today,” the man said. “Strangest thing that they would know. Do you think it means something?”

“I’m not sure, sir,” she said. “But if that was what they were here for, we’ll have to take the pallets as evidence.”

“What? No! You can’t! We gotta use those chemicals to make our shipment. We can’t-”

“I’m sorry, sir. But it’s only temporary. You’ll get them back. And I’m afraid we’ll need you out of here. This is a crime scene. Tape it off,” she called out.


	8. Chapter 8

The door to the van opened. Ursula, who did in fact look sharp in her police uniform, put Marian in, then Mulan, then Tink, then Ruby, all handcuffed. Then she winked at Emma and shut the door again.

“Hurry up and get me out of these things,” Ruby said, quietly in case any of the warehouse workers currently being hustled out of the building could hear. “She got them too tight.”

“I don’t know,” Emma said. “I think it’s a good look for you. And, I mean, you’re dangerous, hardened criminals who stormed a factory with machine guns blazing. Who knows what you might do to little old me?” she teased, but she was moving toward them and pulling out the keys.

“I almost can’t believe that worked,” Marian said, rubbing her wrists after she was released.

“You knock on wood right now,” Tink hissed.

Marian was reaching her knuckles playfully toward Tink’s head when Mulan, voice tight, pointed out, “The sniping can wait until we’re out of here, ladies. The last thing we need is for those guys to catch a clue.”

They all nodded and then found seats on the benches that lined the van. Awkward silence fell for long moments.

Then there was a quick double-knock on the side of the van.

“That’s my cue,” Emma said, getting up and opening the door that led to the front. Climbing into the driver’s seat, she adjusted her POLICE hat and started the van.

**

“Hua? You ok?” Tink asked as they walked toward the door of their temporary headquarters. Mulan had gotten quieter and quieter as they had gotten closer, and Emma thought that if her posture was any stiffer she’d sprain something.

“I just- she- she’s there, isn’t she?”

“Yes,” Tink confirmed gently. “It was much easier for her to help Henry zap Jones’s insurance that way, because she could walk him through the system.”

Mulan took a deep, shuddering breath. “It’s just- I haven’t seen her since-” Her voice faltered.

“Since she told you she was pregnant,” Tink finished for her.

“Yeah.”

“She agreed to help us,” Marian pointed out, reaching forward to squeeze Mulan’s shoulder comfortingly. “That says something.”

“Yeah,” Mulan agreed tonelessly.

They reached the door. “Ready?” Emma asked.

“No.”

**

As they came in, Aurora looked up from the computer screen she was surveying with Henry. Mulan stopped in her tracks and choked out a “Hey” that did not sound the least bit casual.

“Hi,” Aurora answered easily. “Long time no see.”

“Yeah, uh,” Mulan was suddenly really intent on redoing her ponytail. “I’ve been super busy, you know how it is. Work. Stuff. Um, how’ve you been?”

“Well it’s pretty hard being a single mom, actually,” Aurora said with a hint of something Emma couldn’t quite identify in her tone, “but fortunately working in insurance pays well.”

Mulan’s head shot up to look at her, hair forgotten. “Single-”

“Yeah,” Aurora confirmed, crossing her arms across her chest. “You know, stuff. One of those things that’s hard to tell you when you won’t return my phone calls.”

“But- Philip-” she sputtered.

“Was a mistake. Which I was _trying_ to tell you when you stormed off.”

“Oh come on! You were going on and on about finally finding someone who mattered!” Mulan almost shouted. “What was I supposed to think?”

“You thought I was talking about Philip?” Aurora was incredulous.

“Oh.”

**

“Let me watch the video again,” Henry insisted, reaching for the phone in Zelena’s hand. She rolled her eyes, but shrugged and handed it to him.

“I can’t believe you took a video of blowing up his car,” Emma said, shaking her head with a chuckle.

“How would he know what happened to his precious phallic symbol and suffer accordingly if we didn’t send him a lovely internet video?” Zelena pointed out. She had kicked off her shoes and was starting to spinn aimlessly in one of the chairs.

“And post some animated gifs. And amplify it all with an army of Twitter bots just to make sure the entire internet knows he got figuratively castrated,” Tink added with a smirk.

Emma’s brow furrowed. “But he can’t track the video back to any of us, can he?”

“No, I made sure they used burner everything,” Henry muttered, eyes glued to the screen.

“That _is_ really satisfying,” Marian said, watching over Henry’s shoulder.

“And it was very attractive to the police. They came running, just like we wanted,” Mal said with a grin. She’d been the getaway driver, of course.

“I still think that was overkill,” Ruby said. “Belle was intercepting all the calls from the local exchange to 911 to make sure the real police didn’t show up, so it’s not like we even needed a distraction.”

“An exploding car to divert the police that’s also Jones’s most precious possession has inimitable style, dear.” Regina’s detective costume was basically indistinguishable from her usual pantsuits, but Emma had to admit the badge at her hip got her a little hot under the collar just looking at it. She wondered if her girlfriend would be up for handcuff play any time soon-

They were all startled by the sound of applause. Turning to the door, they saw the Sorcerer and The Dark One.

“Well done, ladies,” The Dark One said, then smoothly added “and gentleman” when Henry groaned.

Emma managed not to glare at them as they walked into the room, but did cross her arms in a way that probably didn’t look very friendly. “Did we pass your little ‘test’?”

“With flying colors,” The Sorcerer said with a charming smile. “That was tremendously more complex and stylish than our strategy.” Emma felt like, if he hadn’t been part of endangering all their lives, she could have liked him.

“So are you going to give us our money?” Regina asked, an edge in her voice.

“Absolutely!” The Sorcerer said, though The Dark One didn’t look nearly as happy about it as he did. “There should be honor among thieves!”

Marian very deliberately stepped on Emma’s foot to keep her from pointing out that getting them into this mess in the first place wasn’t honorable at all.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the handcuffs were a Chekhov’s gun, but this went another direction. They will be back in M13.

The Sorcerer and the Dark One had made good on their deal, allowing them to pay off Robin, and--weary but triumphant--the team had all gone home. Regina, Emma, and Henry had gotten in late in the afternoon and quickly arranged a celebratory family dinner, and then they had all just wanted some down time.

Drying her hair after the shower, Emma wasn’t really looking at first when she came into the bedroom. When she finally did look up, she stopped cold.

Regina was snuggled up in her fluffy white bathrobe, wearing her glasses and reading a book, and Emma was struck by how very precious she was. She dropped her towel and was beside the bed in an instant.

“Emma, the towel-” Regina began, but stopped as Emma sat beside her on the bed and cupped her face in awe and wonder.

When Regina spoke again, her “Hello, dear,” was rich and throaty.

“Hi,” Emma said, then leaned in and kissed her slow and sweet. “I love you,” she murmured against her lips.

She felt Regina smile against her mouth before she kissed her again.

“Not that I’m complaining, but what brought this on?” Regina asked afterward.

“Just want to make sure I appreciate what I’ve got, you know?” _After what happened with Robin_ hung in the air between them.

“Yes,” Regina agreed, setting her book aside and pulling Emma close.

They kissed for long moments, and it wasn’t needy or urgent, not like the immediate terror of mortal peril. But that was there underneath, making every touch mean so much more as Regina’s glasses and then her robe came off and their skin pressed together full-length.  They let their hands wander, cupping a cheek and stroking a fingertip down a neck here, sweeping along a waist and over a hip there.

Gradually, their fingertips began digging in to shoulders, hips, thighs as their kisses became hungrier. Emma slid her thigh between Regina’s, and then smiled into the kiss when she felt her do the same. Before long they were starting to rock together, and Emma could feel Regina’s growing wetness against her thigh as she felt her own against Regina’s. She began kissing down over Regina’s chin and down her neck in the next moment, slow and adoring but intent. She nibbled at her collarbone and kissed across her sternum and then stopped for a long moment with her ear pressed to her chest to listen to her heart—beating faster than usual.

Regina cupped her face and stroked her thumb across her cheek—and then guided her mouth to a nipple.

“Too much appreciation?” Emma chuckled, but obediently closed her mouth around it.

“More tongue and teeth appreciation,” Regina countered. Then hissed a pleased, “Yes! And sucking,” as Emma did.

Emma reveled in the feeling of her taut nipple against tongue-palate-teeth and brought her hand up to roll the other between her fingers. She lost herself in it, loving how good Regina felt, loving how utterly incredible her hums and gasps and moans sounded as she sucked one nipple and then the other. But she knew her too well to stay here as long as she would have liked, and was kissing down her ribs before Regina’s grip in her hair was more than a suggestion.

“I heard you wanted more tongue and sucking,” she teased.

“Damn right I do,” Regina mock-growled.

Their eyes met, and it was so silly all of a sudden that Emma laughed a full, deep laugh. Regina joined her a moment later. They laughed together for a long time, Emma’s cheek pressed against Regina’s upraised thigh and Regina’s hand cupping the other side of her face.

“Love you,” Emma murmured when it trailed off. She kissed the inside of Regina’s wrist, and then the inside of her thigh, back and forth, closer and closer to her body. They both sighed with pleasure and relief when her mouth made contact where Regina was now quite wet.

She gave her long, slow strokes at first, tracing every plane and curve of her, reconnecting, adoring her. But she didn’t dwell too long, switching to give her steady, if easy, strokes directly to her clit.

Regina’s moaned “More” raced along her nerve endings, making her need more just as much. She was curling her tongue at the top of the stroke, then swirling, then flicking, reading her responses and working her up and up.

Soon she was gripping Regina’s hips as they started to twitch to stay with her, and then switched to sucking on her clit, interspersed with little tongue swirls, exactly the way she knew she loved.

She felt Regina’s body tensing and her fingers tightening in her hair and knew she was close. She kept her touches steady, sucking-swirling-stroking in counterpoint to Regina’s hips bucking up toward her mouth. Feeling her need was so good, but knowing that she was giving her what she needed was even better; knowing that she made her this wet, and caused that trembling, and provoked that muttered “Fuck, yes, suck me, so good” had her nearly as delirious.

Then Regina’s body was arching into an orgasm, a perfect curve of taut muscle. It was the most beautiful thing Emma had ever seen.

Emma kissed up her body more slowly than she’d gone down, stroking her cheek and nose and lips up her hips, belly, ribs because she no longer needed to reckon with Regina’s impatience. She was so lost in her quiet appreciation that she was startled at the intensity when she finally kissed her again.

Regina was rolling her over almost immediately, pressing on top, devouring her mouth.

“Hmh, hi,” she said, dazed, when Regina broke the kiss and began nipping along her jawline.

“Hi,” Regina said around a mouthful of her collarbone. She had kissed down to her breast in the next moment and was biting and sucking and pinching and pulling at her nipples and it would have been too much if Emma’s entire body wasn’t achingly ready after tasting her.

Just before her clit would be throbbing loud enough to hear, Regina was scraping her teeth down her side and settling between her legs. There was a moment of eye contact when Regina licked her lips, and then all Emma could do was squeak out a “Fuck!” and hold on as her mouth made contact.

Regina demanded pleasure from her clit like she had with her nipples, tongue hard and quick and fluttering immediately. Seeing how wet her face was getting and hearing her little hums of satisfaction as she stroked and sucked made it impossibly better. Emma felt sensation race along every nerve—and adoration well up from her soul.

Soon she was gripping Regina’s hair with one hand and the sheets with the other, loving every moment of it so much that she started babbling, “Fuck, I fucking love you- and your mouth- and your oh! fingers,” because Regina had pressed inside and was fucking her deep.

It was so good, and Emma had gotten as far as “Mo-” before the third finger was inside her, stretching and filling her and curling on the outstroke, and she was hovering just on the edge of too much and it hurt so good to be so overwhelmed by it.

Then she was coming hard, slapping a fast hand over her mouth to muffle her cry as blackness edged her vision.

Regina adoringly kissed her way up Emma’s body, and she must have had an incredulous look on her face because Regina asked, “What? It was a good idea.”

A chuckle bubbled up from deep in Emma’s chest, and she pulled Regina in for a sweet kiss.

When they were snuggled into each other under the covers, Emma hummed contentedly. “Why did we ever leave home?” she murmured.

“Something about mortal peril,” Regina deadpanned.

“Yeah, about that. We’ve gotta get out of this line of work.”

“Yeah.” Regina sighed. “But I’ll miss the lifestyle. Our day jobs do not pay like we’re used to.”

“Yeah,” Emma agreed. There was a long silence. “We could do one more job before we retire.”

“One more job.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When is M13? Not sure. Not starting it right away, but it will happen eventually.


End file.
